Everyone gets some time off, even me. I’ll be gone till next week, but I promise to read a bunch of stuff I bought off the Samhain site. I already knocked off one and hopefully a second today, so next week I’ll have the reviews up. In the meantime, here are some books I’ve read and haven’t reviewed and just a line or two on each.

Shoots to Thrill by Nina Bruhns

Romantic suspense with a preposterous premise of a ‘dedicated’ nurse who insists on going on a spec ops mission because her patient needs her and, well, she’s just so damn dedicated. I’m mean really, can you believe that? The underlying mystery of who the traitor is was decent, but not enough to redeem the silly story. C- (2.6*)

Hard and Fast by Erin McCarthy

I’m not a big fan of straightforward contemporary romance, nor of Erin McCarthy who blows hot and cold, but Hard and Fast really is as good as everyone says. Dear Author reviewed it and this time I agree completely, even with their B (4.2*) rating. Enjoy!

Pleasure Bot by Delilah Devlin is an erotic futuristic romance ebook with a sense of humor from Ellora’s Cave. A spoiled, rich, career girl with no personal life – just sex toys – has a bossy personal IA that decides it’s high time her ‘mistress’ gets a life and she gets an IA of her very own. A space pirate needs to hide. He and the IA agree he’ll pretend to be the Pleasure Bot, the lifelike robot lover that her owner supposedly ordered. Funny, interesting ‘world’, good double story and plenty of interest. Pirates are just such fun, even when they fly spaceships. C+ to B-(3.5*) and a suggested read for fun erotic futuristic romance. XXX

Alexandra’s Legacy by N. J. Walters New at Samhain is this short novel. It seems to be the first in a new series by Ms Walters. Alexandra Riley has grown up in a lower middle class neighborhood of Chicago and she loves it. Along with her father, she run a garage known for their quality work. She’s been feeling strange, like she’s being watched. Then her father says they have to talk when a stranger walks in and her life changes. Her father is a werewolf and former alpha of the Wolf Creek pack. All those strange sensations she’s been having is her first heat and she needs a mate. Joshua Striker is the Wolf Creek enforcer come to bring her back to the pack for safety. This short novel has a complex world of supernatural beings, humans who know of them – some friends and some wanting to kill them – treacherous pack members, and a tough man at odds with himself over something he never expected to find, a mate. Alexandra is no push over either and holds her own as they run for the relative safety of the pack. Good read and world building. NC-17 and C+ to B- (3.5*) Recommended for fans of her Dalakis brothers vampire series and werewolf stories.

Another romance anthology that had good, bad and indifferent stories. Shilo Walker’s Revolutionary War tale was good, although it lacked the period feel to it. Read like a modern re-enactment. Allyson James’ English aristocrats righting old wrongs was predictable but well written. Beats me why Robin Schone got top billing because her Sharon Page/Lora Leigh historical sex club routine didn’t remotely work for me and Claudia Dain’s story featuring two ‘opera girls’ looking for protectors was just strange. Whore’s with hearts of gold? Over all it I say buy it used or borrow from someone. Not worth the purchase price. It might rate an NC-17 rating, but it isn’t erotic romance. C- (2.8*)